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Curvy Cutie: Tanesha Awasthi

I have been intrigued by her blog since the moment I first saw it a few months ago. She has curves, she has some of the baddest clothes and she’s wrapping it all up nicely on her blog Girl With Curves. I was excited to interview her about how it all started and what’s going on next for one of curvy communities hottest bloggers.

First I wanted to find out how she started her blog. It is quite different from how I had imagined. After feeling a little out of sorts about her current profession in technology her husband thought she would enjoy an outlet by blogging. He knew it was going to be a hit because every time they went out someone was always commenting on how they loved the way she dressed. Not even knowing what a blog was the two of them investigated what it would take to build one. After posting Flickr images and Google Alerts the positive reaction received made it obvious that the creation of the blog would be the next step and Girl With Curves was born.

That was February 2011. Since then her blog has gotten more than a few hits. After she was featured on Glamour Magazine’s Best Dressed reader, her stats really started increasing. Her feature was on how curvy girls can wear skinny jeans like in the OOTD featured here….Oh la la!

Tanesha has a huge following on Facebook and that is actually how I originally found her. She features an OOTD and I discovered what her inspiration was for those features. Being a girly girl since she was 4, frilly socks and all, her natural instinct is to go with what she’s feeling that day. She admits that even just going to lunch with her hubby can cause her to bring on the glam, something she learned from her paternal grandmother. Tanesha said, “She would wear red leather boots to the grocery store.” It is definitely in her genes.

After seeing pictures on her blog I was curious as to if she thought of herself more as a model or a blogger. Tanesha is passionate about blogging and loves to use her platform to empower women to let them know they can wear whatever they want to wear. “Anyone, any size and body type can wear anything.” The key she says is the “fit” and a good fabric can make that happen. Because of her hip to waist ratio she says there are certain fabrics she must stay away from and staying with stretch fabric has worked well for her. Squashing that old adage that a tailor is necessary for a good fit; what a great tip.

This Girl With Curves is chocked full of fabulous information. Her dreams of becoming a designer may not have happened but she definitely has the influence of one. Even though her favorite designers (Oscar De La Renta and Rachel Zoe) don’t necessarily carry her size she is determined to recreate their looks for the girl that has an ample figure. We had a good laugh about her once attending NYC Fashion Week and loving all the clothes and coming face to face with the harsh reality that they weren’t offered in her size. The curvy girls angst!

That doesn’t stop her however as you can tell from looking at her blog. Not one to follow trends she gets inspiration from her favs and creates a look that works for her. That look has many thinking she is more model than blogger but make no mistake she has had her days with modeling and chooses blogger over them. Her modeling experience wasn’t a good one unfortunately. She admits that at the time the industry was just starting out and she wasn’t as comfortable with her shape as she is now. This caused her to be distraught over body image. She now understands that she wants her voice to be heard and not just seen on pages of a magazine showcasing an outfit. She gets to do both with her blog giving the plus sized community inspiration to feel confident in not only their clothes but skin they are in.

Tanesha has lots to look forward to. She is headed to the first ever plus sized fashion week in London courtesy of Navabi. Navabi nominated her along with other curvy bloggers into their contest and she was chosen as the winner! Grand prize, the time of your life enjoying London and all the fabulous plus size designs working the runway. In case you didn’t know this event is MAJOR because of the options in the UK for plus size fashion. It will be exciting to hear about her experience on this visit across the pond, keep your eyes on her blog.

A women this dynamic of course has a to-do list out of this world. As a matter of fact she’s already smashed many of her goals she set for herself for 2013! Way to go Tanesha, I can’t wait to see what this year is going to offer on her blog. Most importantly I’m glad she’s an icon for the woman who wants to express herself in clothing the right way.